The rationale for this lesson is to provide professional development for in-service teachers that demonstrates the utilization of mobile apps to foster collaborative learning communities and leadership and to track outcomes and share resources.
Upon completion of this lesson learners will be able to:
Define learning community.
Describe the differences and similarities between virtual and face-to-face learning communities.
Establish a learning community in order to perpetuate lifelong learning.
Explain the value of advocating for and fostering a professional learning environment.
Create a Tumblr account and set up a blog using Tumblr mobile app.
Create a collection of shared digital content.
Collaborate to create a repository of mobile app resources and lesson ideas.
Identify valuable mobile apps and share practical classroom applications.
Explain the importance of measuring professional development and educator outcomes.
Implement Zoom Cloud, Tumblr, Google Drive, and Edmodo apps in order to maximize time and resources, advocate for professional learning, and create support systems and structure.
Learning Activities
1. Learning Activity to Support Learning Communities Standard
Participants will view the following video.
Participants will reflect on and write down their personal definition of community, then discuss, as a group, how the definition of community applies to the educational setting and how it can be used to support professional development, such as through collaborating with peer teachers or content area experts in other schools. Next, the facilitator will give an overview of learning communities and lead a brief group discussion of the following questions.
How are same building and distant learning communities different?
What are each member's role in a learning community?
What are the advantages of learning communities?
What are the challenges of learning communities?
How can synchronous video communication technology support learning communities?
Participants will download and install the ZoomCloud app on their mobile device and play to become more familiar the capabilities of the app.
Participants will use the Zoom Cloud Application to introduce themselves and establish their learning communities based on grade level, subject areas or other method of grouping. The participants will be split into groups of two. If there is an odd number of a student, the instructor will be one of the group members. The members of the group will meet via Zoom Cloud.
Using ZoomCloud, each participant will interview his or her partner and ask the following questions:
What grade do you teach?
What subject do you teach? What subject is your favorite?
What are your long-term and short-term goals for professional development?
Do you currently participant in a learning community?
How do you feel a learning community can help support your professional development goals?
2. Learning Activity to Support Leadership Standards
This professional development activity could be completed in a face-to-face session.
Participants will view the following video.
With the whole group participants will discuss the characteristics of an effective professional development learning environment that can be communicated by the group leader or school administrator. Characteristics to include are: dynamic, foster a learning culture, trusting, professional, vision-driven, data-driven, relationships, intimacy, respectful, open-minded, flexible, timely feedback, collaboration, supportive, advocacy and more.
1. In small groups, participants will make a list of the characteristics of an effective professional development environment with at least as many items as are in their group. (for example, five group members requires five items).
2. As a group, participants will rank the characteristics and write a sentence that describes the characteristics. (for example, respectful. An effective professional development environment is respectful, because all perspectives and stakeholders are valued and considered.)
5. Participants will download and install the Tumblr app on their mobile device and play to become more familiar the capabilities of the app before continuing with the activity.
6. Using Tumblr app, participants will each post a characteristic and the description to their Tumblr blog to facilitate and encourage an environment of professional development in their school and learning community.
3. Learning Activity to Support Resources Standard
Participants will view the following video. Participants will use the Google Drive app to support the resources professional development standard. Participants will create a Google account if they do not already have one. Then they will install the Google Drive mobile app on their portable devices and will be given a mini lesson on how to get started using the tool. They will be broken down into small groups to collaborate on a shared document.
2. Participants will then convene in their assigned groups.
3. Choose one person in your group to create a Google document and invite the other members to edit the document by typing in their email addresses.
4. Find a discipline specific app from itunes or Googleplay. Download it and try it out.
5. Consider the following questions as you "play" with your mobile app.
How do you think your students could use it in class?
What do you like about it?
What do you dislike about it?
6. Once you have chosen an app that you would use in your classroom, add it, along with information about how it can be used, to the document you created in the Google Drive app. If you like, add other collaborators by typing in their email addresses, or if the document’s creator or owner has the other collaborators in his or her contacts, simply add the contact.
7. Continue to build your document with your fellow collaborators after the session to create a library of shared resources.
4. Learning Activity to Support Outcomes
This professional development learning activity could take place in a face-to-face session. As a group, the facilitator will discuss the importance of measure the impact and effectiveness of professional development on educators in the form of outcomes. The discussion will explore the types of outcomes (For example, improved student outcomes, additional teaching strategies, teacher confidence and satisfaction, etc.) and methods to measure these outcomes (For example, student assessment, teacher observations, interviews and surveys, etc.)
4. Participants will download and install Edmodo iPad app and register for Edmodo account using app and play to familiarize themselves with the app before continuing the activity.
5. Using Edmodo iPad app, participants will:
Create a group
Invite at least one participant to your group (peer teacher, mentor, content expert, or professional development participant)
In the latest post section in the group view for the group you just created, create a poll (survey) asking participants of the professional development session a question concerning the effectiveness of the professional development training session and provide the appropriate responses. For example, is the material presented in today's session on technology applicable for use in your classroom? And add response options to create a scale between Very Useful and Not Useful.
Integration of App/Tool
Participants will use Zoom Cloud app to interview their partners and use the app to practice the skills required to establish and maintain professional learning communities.
Participants will use the Google Drive app to create shared documents to house resources for other mobile apps and their practical classroom uses.
Tumblr iPad app will be used to facilitate and encourage a positive professional development environment through its easy to use blogging to functionality
Edmodo iPad app will be used to facilitate the organization of professional development sessions, groups and communities for collaboration and measuring outcomes through surveys.
Collaboration
Participants will practice collaborating using synchronous video communication to develop and foster learning communities for professional development. (Learning Communities Standard)
Participants will work in small groups to discuss the importance of creating a supportive, professional learning environment to create a list of characteristics, based on their discussions, and they will share their ideas with other educators in the professional learning community through Tumblr (Leadership Standard)
Participants will collaborate on a Google document in the Google Drive app, adding resources and information about mobile apps. (Resources Standard)
Participants will post to their professional development group, created in Edmodo, by responding to questions about measuring the effectiveness of professional development. (Outcomes Standard)
Learning Communities: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students occurs within learning communities committed to continuous improvement, collective responsibility, and goal alignment.
Leadership: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires skillful leaders who develop capacity, advocate, and create support systems for professional learning.
Resources: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students requires prioritizing, monitoring, and coordinating resources for educator learning.
Outcomes: Professional learning that increases educator effectiveness and results for all students aligns its outcomes with educator performance and student curriculum standards.
ISTE-NETS-T (These are the standards we considered when designing our integrated lesson.) 1-Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.
Assessment
Thank you for participating in today’s professional development session. Please complete the survey linked below so that we may obtain feedback from you on your understanding of all of today’s learning activities.
Once you have finished the professional development session, you will receive a certificate. Please print this certificate and have it signed.
Materials/Resources
iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Android-Enabled Device
Zoom Cloud App
Tumblr iPad App
Google Drives App
Edmodo iPad App
Internet connectivity
Value Beyond the Classroom/Learning Experience
Learning Community Activity with Zoom Cloud App:
Builds relationships with classmates.
Develops an understanding of learning communities.
Reflects upon how learning communities can benefit education.
Leadership Activity with Tumblr App:
Easy to use platform for leaders to share and collaborate on a variety of topics.
Web 2.0 tool that helps develop information communication technology (ICT) skills in teachers and students.
Teachers can effectively share a variety of information while building 21st skills.
Tumblr can also be an important tool for learning.
Teachers can use Tumblr to research and follow topics as part of the professional learning community to learn from other educators from different geographic locations and perspectives.
Using Tumblr, blogs, wiki and other Web 2.0 tools can support teachers in lifelong learning.
Resources Learning Activity with Google Drive App:
Develops an understanding of shared responsibility.
Fosters teamwork.
Allows for increased communication.
Outcomes Activity with Edmodo App:
Creates a deeper understanding of the importance of measuring professional development and educator outcomes.
Encourages educators to explore and “play” with mobile apps without a specific goal in mind.
Its social media aspects allow users to keep up with the latest trends in technology and education.
Bender, T. (2003). Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning: Theory, Practice and assessment. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., and Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning: Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, Wisconsin, Atwood Publishing.
Conrad, R., and Donaldson, J.A. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., and Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, Indiana: Solution Tree.
Fengfeng, K., & Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating online learning communities. Educational Technology Research and Develpment, 57(4), 487-510. doi:10.1007/s11423-009-9120-2
Lock, J. V. (2006). A new image: Online communities to facilitate teacher professional development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), 663- 678. Retrieved from http://weili.wikispaces.com/file/view/Reference_24
Palloff, R., and Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: effective strategies for the online classroom. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
Thoonen, E., Sleegers, P., Oort, F. , Peetsma,T., & Geijsel, F. (February 2011), How to Improve Teaching Practices: The Role of Teacher Motivation, Organizational Factors, and Leadership Practices. Educational Administration Quarterly. 47(3). 496-536 Retrieved from http://eaq.sagepub.com/content/47/3/496
Thurston, A. (2005). Building online learning communities. Technology, Pedagogy, and Education, 14(3), 353-369. doi:10.1080/14759390500200211
Curriculum Objectives
The rationale for this lesson is to provide professional development for in-service teachers that demonstrates the utilization of mobile apps to foster collaborative learning communities and leadership and to track outcomes and share resources.Upon completion of this lesson learners will be able to:
Learning Activities
1. Learning Activity to Support Learning Communities Standard
Participants will view the following video.
Participants will reflect on and write down their personal definition of community, then discuss, as a group, how the definition of community applies to the educational setting and how it can be used to support professional development, such as through collaborating with peer teachers or content area experts in other schools.
Next, the facilitator will give an overview of learning communities and lead a brief group discussion of the following questions.
Participants will watch ZoomCloud Slideshare here: http://www.slideshare.net/Karen02J/zoom-cloud
Participants will download and install the ZoomCloud app on their mobile device and play to become more familiar the capabilities of the app.
Participants will use the Zoom Cloud Application to introduce themselves and establish their learning communities based on grade level, subject areas or other method of grouping. The participants will be split into groups of two. If there is an odd number of a student, the instructor will be one of the group members.
The members of the group will meet via Zoom Cloud.
Using ZoomCloud, each participant will interview his or her partner and ask the following questions:
2. Learning Activity to Support Leadership Standards
This professional development activity could be completed in a face-to-face session.
Participants will view the following video.
With the whole group participants will discuss the characteristics of an effective professional development learning environment that can be communicated by the group leader or school administrator. Characteristics to include are: dynamic, foster a learning culture, trusting, professional, vision-driven, data-driven, relationships, intimacy, respectful, open-minded, flexible, timely feedback, collaboration, supportive, advocacy and more.
1. In small groups, participants will make a list of the characteristics of an effective professional development environment with at least as many items as are in their group. (for example, five group members requires five items).
2. As a group, participants will rank the characteristics and write a sentence that describes the characteristics. (for example, respectful. An effective professional development environment is respectful, because all perspectives and stakeholders are valued and considered.)
3. Participants will review the guide for using Tumblr app: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4M0FKNZ07baYll3cWJkVlBkQmc/edit?usp=sharing
4. Participants will watch an overview video for using Tumblr app for professional development: http://www.screencast.com/t/mPaPJ86eErm
5. Participants will download and install the Tumblr app on their mobile device and play to become more familiar the capabilities of the app before continuing with the activity.
6. Using Tumblr app, participants will each post a characteristic and the description to their Tumblr blog to facilitate and encourage an environment of professional development in their school and learning community.
3. Learning Activity to Support Resources Standard
Participants will view the following video.
Participants will use the Google Drive app to support the resources professional development standard. Participants will create a Google account if they do not already have one. Then they will install the Google Drive mobile app on their portable devices and will be given a mini lesson on how to get started using the tool. They will be broken down into small groups to collaborate on a shared document.
1. Participants will review the guide for using Google Drive app: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/free-again-google-drive-for-teachers.html#.UVhXfRxQGUM
2. Participants will then convene in their assigned groups.
3. Choose one person in your group to create a Google document and invite the other members to edit the document by typing in their email addresses.
4. Find a discipline specific app from itunes or Googleplay. Download it and try it out.
5. Consider the following questions as you "play" with your mobile app.
6. Once you have chosen an app that you would use in your classroom, add it, along with information about how it can be used, to the document you created in the Google Drive app. If you like, add other collaborators by typing in their email addresses, or if the document’s creator or owner has the other collaborators in his or her contacts, simply add the contact.
7. Continue to build your document with your fellow collaborators after the session to create a library of shared resources.
4. Learning Activity to Support Outcomes
This professional development learning activity could take place in a face-to-face session. As a group, the facilitator will discuss the importance of measure the impact and effectiveness of professional development on educators in the form of outcomes. The discussion will explore the types of outcomes (For example, improved student outcomes, additional teaching strategies, teacher confidence and satisfaction, etc.) and methods to measure these outcomes (For example, student assessment, teacher observations, interviews and surveys, etc.)
1. Participants will watch the following video.
2. Participants will download and review the tutorial document for using Edmodo and creating groups, joining groups and administering a survey here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4M0FKNZ07baSEF0X2lTSTJVQ2c/edit?usp=sharing
3. Participants will review an overview video using Edmodo iPad app:http://www.screencast.com/t/Mk2jYROzhC
4. Participants will download and install Edmodo iPad app and register for Edmodo account using app and play to familiarize themselves with the app before continuing the activity.
5. Using Edmodo iPad app, participants will:
Integration of App/Tool
Collaboration
Learning Forward Standards for Professional Learning
(http://learningforward.org/standards-for-professional-learning)
ISTE-NETS-T (These are the standards we considered when designing our integrated lesson.)
1-Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
c. Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual
understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes.
d. Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environments.
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
a. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity.
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
b. Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others.
Assessment
Thank you for participating in today’s professional development session. Please complete the survey linked below so that we may obtain feedback from you on your understanding of all of today’s learning activities.Learning Activity Rubric: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4M0FKNZ07baU0k3MG5IdklPUlU/edit?usp=sharing
Link to follow assessment survey:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dG13Sm9tMW9hZmlTbmdwUU9EZEVVVEE6MQ
Certificate of Completion
Once you have finished the professional development session, you will receive a certificate. Please print this certificate and have it signed.
Materials/Resources
Value Beyond the Classroom/Learning Experience
Learning Community Activity with Zoom Cloud App:Leadership Activity with Tumblr App:
Resources Learning Activity with Google Drive App:
Outcomes Activity with Edmodo App:
Learning Activity Development Resources/Citations
http://www.sedl.org/change/issues/issues61.htmlhttp://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Learning_Communities
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXnqJ3dfyKo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pw5qlhCF_k
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/11/free-again-google-drive-for-teachers.html#.UVhXfRxQGUM
https://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375049&topic=14942&ctx=topic
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LqVd6u5WgvYxjqhfKbbazikNshx72YtBAjxM8l2nWmQ/edit?usp=sharing__
http://www.screencast.com/t/Mk2jYROzhC_
Bender, T. (2003). Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning: Theory,
Practice and assessment. Sterling, Virginia: Stylus Publishing.
Collison, G., Elbaum, B., Haavind, S., and Tinker, R. (2000). Facilitating online learning:
Effective strategies for moderators. Madison, Wisconsin, Atwood Publishing.
Conrad, R., and Donaldson, J.A. (2004). Engaging the online learner: Activities and
resources for creative instruction. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
Desimone, L.M. (2011), A Primer on Effective Professional Development. Phi Delta Kappan
92, no. 6: 68-71.Retrieved from
http://www.gcisd-k12.org/cms/lib/TX01000829/Centricity/Domain/78/A_Primer_on_Effective_Professional_Development.pdf
DuFour, R., DuFour, R., and Eaker, R. (2008). Revisiting professional learning
communities at work: New insights for improving schools. Bloomington, Indiana:
Solution Tree.
Fengfeng, K., & Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating online learning communities. Educational
Technology Research and Develpment, 57(4), 487-510. doi:10.1007/s11423-009-9120-2
Lock, J. V. (2006). A new image: Online communities to facilitate teacher professional development. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 14(4), 663- 678. Retrieved from http://weili.wikispaces.com/file/view/Reference_24
Palloff, R., and Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: effective
strategies for the online classroom. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.
Thoonen, E., Sleegers, P., Oort, F. , Peetsma,T., & Geijsel, F. (February 2011), How to Improve Teaching Practices: The Role of Teacher Motivation, Organizational Factors, and Leadership Practices. Educational Administration Quarterly. 47(3). 496-536 Retrieved from http://eaq.sagepub.com/content/47/3/496
Thurston, A. (2005). Building online learning communities. Technology, Pedagogy, and
Education, 14(3), 353-369. doi:10.1080/14759390500200211
Wiesenberg, F., and Willment, J. (2001). Creating Continuing Professional Online Learning Communities. Adult Learning. 12(1): 5-7. Retrieved from http://www.adesignmedia.com/onlineresearch/sr_professionallearningcommunities.pdf